Past, Present
by colourfulswan
Summary: WAS 'UNEXPECTED JOURNEY' When Tessa, Will and Magnus are transported from 19th century England to 21st Century New York things get a little complicated.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer, I don't own anything but the plot (which is sad because how cool would it be to have invented Magnus Bane?)**

 **This is set after both Clockwork Princess and CoHF**

"-but Mr. Bane, sorry, Magnus, are you sure this will work? Portals are still new us all and this is the longest distance one has ever been used for." Charlotte Branwell, polite as ever, struggled to hide the doubt in her voice.

Really, Magnus didn't see what they were all so worried about. This was the fifth time he had made a portal and it had only failed once, even then only one person had almost died. He thought they were all being ever so slightly over dramatic though of course refrained from telling them so. He prided himself on being ever-professional.

"Well, you don't really have very many alternatives so I suggest you make your mind up as to whether or not this meeting really is worth the risk, a factor, which I might add, is not worth even thinking about. "

"I can't speak for the others but I value my life more that I do my attendance to an irrelevant Clave meeting." Cut in another voice from a figure neither Magnus (to his chagrin) nor Charlotte had realized had entered. "Although," he continued upon seeing Charlotte's expression of dismay, "I certainly am one to enjoy a risk so I suppose you can count me in."

"William Herondale, early, for once? I didn't think you'd be here until we were at least 10 minutes late."

"Thank you for the vote of confidence Magnus." The sarcasm was tangible. "I like to surprise people every once in a while, I can't doubt you'll understand that." Will had a fair point, the warlock had to hand it to him.

"Have you seen Tessa yet?" Charlotte asked, she began pacing about the large living room of the London Institute, which anyone could see was not a good sign. "It's 11.45 the meeting starts in 15 minutes."

"Calm down, once I create the portal you'll be in Idris in seconds. I'll wait 10 minutes for her to get here, if not you two will have to go without her."

"Ah, no, change of plan. Henry and I agree that it wouldn't be good for the baby if I... If anything, were to go wrong."

Henry had chosen to stay behind at the meeting to work on an invention he had almost perfected ('almost' being the key word in the equation, he had destroyed numerous random objects around the house and Charlotte taken to putting her valuables on shelves too high for her husband too reach in his wheelchair.)

"Alright, just Tess and me then." Will smiled, clearly happy to be having some somewhat alone time with her.

"Oh, and me," Magnus added, a slight detail he had accidentally on purpose forgotten to mention, knowing it would definitely dissuade his present company. "Well, that is, if you want to return to London I would bring me with you, there are no warlocks, besides Tessa who can't create portals yet, on good enough terms with Shadowhunters in Idris for the week so you'll need me to portal you back. Besides, I haven't been there in about 50 years I fancy a trip."

From then on he tuned himself out of what was being said. After 200 or so years he was able to perfect the art of not hearing, and he found it got him through quite a few awkward situations. He busied himself with preparing the portal, hoping Tessa would arrive soon enough of they really would be late.

It wasn't long before a rather flustered looking Tessa burst through the door. "Sorry I'm late, I completely forgot, I was halfway across the city. I still get lost here you know, I don't know if I'll ever be able to find my way about like New York."

 _New York,_ despite Magnus's love for the gas-lit streets and multiple types of tea that could only be found in England, he longed to be back in that city. He tried to keep his mind on Idris, he found that the most important thing about using portals was picturing the place you wanted to go so vividly it was like you were almost there. He closed his eyes, seeing the soaring towers and trying his hardest to conjure up the worn streets and multiple weapons stores that could be found practically everywhere.

But then again, he hadn't been there in 50 years. Were the demon towers colorless or slightly silver? Was the smell he could feel so strongly in his mind from Idris or another memory from New York? He knew these details were important, but the meeting was in 5 minutes and there really wasn't time for problems like this.

Finally finished with the preparation of the portal, a shining silvery blue circle appeared before them, it was a strange indescribable mix of smoke and a substance that appeared to be water but left you dry if you touched it.

"Ladies first?" He offered his ringed hand to the much younger warlock, which she promptly ignored and stepped into the swirling portal without his assistance. She was quickly followed by Will who didn't wait for an invitation but gave a cocky salute to Charlotte before running through.

"We should be back by Monday, I doubt the whole business will last more than a weekend," He said as a farewell and quickly entered the portal, making sure it closed behind him. This was only his second time traveling this way, but he didn't think he would ever be used to the dizzy feeling it caused.

But it was over in a second and before he knew it he was lying face down, slightly out of breath on a hard, unfamiliar material. He pushed himself onto his back, only for his head to be filled with an earsplitting noise that had him covering both ears.

" _Hey, watch it!_ " He heard someone shout, as an unfamiliar and foul smelling shape swerved past him. Still shaken from the portal, he struggled to two feet and cast his eyes about for his two companions. They had landed a few meters from him, away from the danger of the fast shapes, both Will and Tessa were looking around puzzled and only now did Magnus take the time to actually get an idea of what this place, which definitely was not Alicante, was.

He saw a lot of people walking alongside the road, which is what the strip of land the fast shapes traveled on must have been, but the clothes the people wore were vastly different to kind he had grown accustomed to, most outfits were revealing enough to actually make _him_ almost blush, young women with bare legs and, was he actually seeing this? A man _without a shirt?_

It was all a lot to take in, he figured he would probably be best off if he regrouped with Will and Tessa. As he made his way over to them Tessa shot him a questioning glance. As if _he_ would have any idea what was going on?

"Well," Will said, once Magnus was with them, not bothering to conceal his obvious distaste for his surroundings, "I certainly don't think we are in Idris."

 **Sorry if it isn't great, I haven't written a fanfic in ages. Tell me what you guys think, I'll post the next chapter soon :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for the reviews + favourites on the last chapter! :) Also, shout out to the person in ICELAND who read this?**

"So let me get this straight," Will began, as they made their way through a park they'd landed close to. They all figured there would be fewer people in a park and less of the strange foreign noise. "After giving us your word that this would go well, and assuring us we would be on time for that god forsaken meeting in Alicante, you magic us _here,_ wherever the hell 'here' is exactly, and provide no reasonable answer as to why we can't just go home."

He was annoyed, hell, he was more than annoyed. It was a good thing Charlotte hadn't come or he was sure the stress of this whole new environment would have killed the baby inside her. He also wasn't sure whether Magnus's casual attitude was reassuring or infuriating. Maybe both. Of course, like the mature expert Shadowhunter he was, none of his emotions had been allowed to creep onto his face and so he was smugly sure no one had much clue as to the level of worry he was experiencing.

"Yes, yes and no." Replied Magnus, with tones of slight annoyance in his voice. "Yes, I assured you nothing would go wrong, yes something has gone wrong, no I haven't not provided you with a reasonable answer as to why we can't go home, you, Mr. Herondale, just failed to ask for one."

Eager to diffuse the situation, Tessa asked in her calmest voice. "Why can we not portal back to London, Magnus?"

"For two reasons, one, this portal failed so why shouldn't the next one I make? We could end up even more lost that we are now." To that Will gave a harsh laugh. Ignoring him Magnus continued. "Number two is that I have used up a considerable amount of my energy bringing us here, for some reason it tired me out more than a normal portal. I don't think I will be able to do anything too difficult for at least a day."

"A day? You expect us to survive _here_ for _a day?"_

"It shouldn't be that hard Will, if we find out where we are maybe we could explore, enjoy ourselves for a bit? Say we meet back here at 3.00? Then find a place to stay until Magnus can try creating another portal." Tessa, ever the peacemaker, made the whole situation sound actually exciting, her ability to do so only made Will love her a little bit more. He wondered what the social rules about kissing in public were here.

From what she had said, the implication was that they and Magnus would be parting ways, something he didn't seem overly thrilled about, Will supposed being hundreds of years old didn't stop someone from feeling lost in an unknown city, and he knew that both him and Tessa would benefit from having a warlock like Magnus around with them, but Will couldn't resist the idea of being with just Tessa.

"Sounds like a fine plan, but don't you think we'll draw quite a bit of attention to ourselves in our current attire?"

Will's point was a good one. Both him and Magnus were dressed in formal black suits with waistcoats and cravats which were different enough, but _Tessa_ her outfit was already starting to draw the strange people in, they were getting odd stares and Will was sure he could hear whispers. She had on a full violet gown with a matching hat and umbrella, two things the uncomfortable heat in this place made unnecessary.

"Can't Magnus summon something?" Although the question was directed at Will, Magnus, clearly not too pleased about being spoken about, replied instead.

"Unfortunately not, in order to do so I need to know what I am summoning and where from, I hate to tell you I know neither of these, so I suppose you'll have to find things for yourself."

He had already shed his suit jacket and waistcoat and was starting to roll up the sleeves of his shirt. Will had also started to copy his actions but cast worried looks towards Tessa.

"Don't worry, there are probably plenty of places to acquire clothing." She smiled. "Though I'm not sure what we do with these? I don't think, Will, your idea is really that foolproof."

Up to that moment, Will had been throwing the items he deemed unnecessary onto the ground, apparently Magnus had joined him as both men were in only their trousers and shirts and there was a small mountain of clothing between them. To be fair, they did blend in a lot better now and they were undoubtedly a lot cooler in the heat.

Although Tessa agreed they really did need to find a shop of some sort to avoid standing out quite as much as they did, this involved leaving the safety of the park which was relatively quiet, right now she could only see 5 people staring. Outside, sadly, she knew it was a different story.

* * *

It was 12.00, on the dot. Jace wasn't here, Jace was late. That was definitely a bad sign, Jace was _never_ late. Which probably meant he was either hunting a demon, fighting a rogue Downworlder or had been stopped from leaving the institute by Maryse.

Hopefully, it was the last option because that undoubtedly meant Jace would be here within 5 minutes. It wasn't really a proper date, just a coffee but she had still been looking forward to it, they hadn't had much alone time since her Mom's wedding.

They had arranged to meet outside central park, a midway between her house and the institute. Looking around, trying to catch sight of her golden boy, she saw something much stranger. Magnus Bane.

Of course, seeing him was always a little strange, but this time, several things were off. Firstly he had just emerged from a portal, which considering the fact that he lived in Brooklyn seemed pretty unnecessary. Next, although Magnus was certainly not a stranger to odd outfits, he hadn't ever appeared in full Victorian dress, he was definitely one to stick to modern, admittedly somewhat unusual, fashions. Another thing was the people his company.

There were a young man and women, who didn't look much older than herself, one had coloring almost identical to Alec's though she knew it couldn't be him, he would never agree to wear anything close to what this man had on. The woman looked familiar, Clary knew she had seen this person before but she couldn't pinpoint when exactly.

She considered calling out to them, judging from the confused looks and the oddly ungraceful appearance they had made they looked like they could use a hand.

However, she didn't have more than a second to think, because before she knew it Jace was at her side, pulling her along with him into a run. She looked back but the three had wandered into the park and seemed a little less lost.

"What's happening?" She asked Jace between breaths.

"Hydra demon, two streets down."

She ran after him, forgetting, in that moment the odd appearance of the warlock, and everything right then was exactly as it should have been.

 **Thanks for reading + reviewing :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**I forgot to do a disclaimer on the last chapter so sorry for that, I didn't own The Mortal Instruments or the Infernal Devices then and I still do not own them or any of the characters in them now.**

* * *

Magnus had to admit, he was starting to like this new city. After having a proper look around, he realized it was fundamentally the same as at home. The fast objects (he asked someone, they were called 'Ford's) were like faster versions of carriages, the roads, and the houses were basically the same, though made out of things Magnus didn't know.

Right now he was standing outside some clothing store waiting for Will and Tessa to emerge, they'd been in there for ages but he though that was partially due to Tessa refusing to wear anything that showed her arms or legs and Will refusing to leave her in there to fend off the pushy marketers that kept trying to make them buy things. He'd summoned up a couple hundred dollars (that, he was able to do) though he had got a strange look when he asked what the currency was.

He, himself, had settled for these black pants made out of the strangest fabric that basically cut off the bloodstream in his legs and a t-shirt that wasn't really any one color, it appeared sort of silver but when he moved it went kind of rainbow. It was genius. The sleeves also stopped a third of the way up his arm which was weird.

One thing he especially liked was how his ethnicity did not set him apart from the people here, unlike in England where he stood out, here there were people of every race and no one seemed to care.

He was still bothered by the fact that he didn't really know where he was, and he was looking forward to the smug satisfaction of being able to tell Will Herondale what was what.

Not wanting to talk to anyone again, he settled for buying a newspaper from a little shop nearby. The first thing that shocked him were the words 'New York Times' printed across the top of the page in big black letters. Surely this place couldn't be New York? If it was then- surely not? New York couldn't have changed this much since his last visit though Magnus really hoped it had because the alternative was so much worse. Berating himself for being scared, he dragged his gaze to the smaller writing beneath the main title.

What he saw scared him more than he'd expected.

'NEW YORK, TUESDAY, JUNE 9th, 2009.'

No, how was this possible? He was Magnus Bane, _the_ Magnus Bane. How could he have messed this up so badly? It was just a simple portal, practically child's play compared to the spells he'd conducted before. Wow, this would bring his reputation right down.

He understood how they'd landed in New York, he'd been stupid enough to let his thoughts get involved. But how in holy hell had he landed them 131 years in the future? And how in holy hell was he going to tell Will and Tessa?

Hadn't he heard somewhere that the best way to tell bad news was just to say it as fast as you can, no holding back. Once the facts are in the open it's out of your control, you no longer control how the river flows. Maybe if he was _really_ nice they would refrain from murdering him. Then again, he could probably find a way to blame this on them somehow, in fact, if it weren't for them he would be at home, in 1874, normality fully intact.

"Magnus?" A voice from behind him. Tessa and Will were in the shop in front of him. A thousand profanities raced through his head. Not wanting to jump to conclusions he made a mental list of everything that could be happening right now.

1\. There was someone else called Magnus in his general proximity.

2\. Tessa and/or Will had somehow appeared behind him and wanted to talk.

3\. (Oh please let it not be 3.) Someone from his future had mistaken him for his future self.

If number 3 was the right option things were seriously going to get complicated. He braced himself and turned around.

Thank every god forsaken demon in hell. It was number 2.

He wasn't totally sure how Will had managed to appear 10 or so feet behind him without him seeing, but he didn't really care about the details right now. Later he would kick himself for not realizing how this boy's hair was messier than Will's and hung in his face in a really unflattering manner, or how the voice he heard was softer and more casual than his lookalike's.

"Will?"

"Ha. Funny. I'd have murdered you for that joke two years ago."

Mission abort. Mission abort. It seemed option number 3 it was then. How did he play this one out? Hopefully future him wasn't that different to now-him or they would have some serious problems.

"It is a good thing it is not 2 years ago then."

Not-Will was walking towards him and Magnus totally had no idea what to do. Maybe he could fake amnesia? Though then this person might tell him too much about his future, Magnus didn't want any spoilers. The best thing he could do would be to try and end the conversation as quickly as possible. Not-Will - he really needed to figure out this guy's name - had nearly reached him now and up close he was a lot more different to Will than he had first thought. This person had a softer face and a more relaxed posture with much less confidence but in a good way, where Will came off as arrogant and obnoxious the first impression Magnus had of this figure was humble selflessness.

Not-Will paused mid-step, he looked worried and... was he slightly s _cared?_

"You're out in public, and there is no glitter _or_ make-up. Also, no offense but your clothes are relatively low key. Do you feel okay?"

He didn't know what glitter was but make-up he knew, it seemed future him still had immaculate taste when it came to appearances. As for his clothes he felt an unfair annoyance towards this oh so mysterious Not-Will person, Magnus had just been ripped from his home and his time and dumped here with no clue where or when he was, he'd had to fend for himself a whole 30 minutes in this strange new world and here came this irritatingly attractive stranger from his future criticizing his clothing. Of course, he couldn't blame NW for any of this, but it was nice to have someone to be annoyed with.

"I uh, ran out." He knew he'd have to come up with a feasible excuse for this whole situation, but he happily postponed that until later when he had some time to gather his thoughts.

"Hey, I'm not complaining. You look great either way." Something about they way this boy spoke gave Magnus the impression that his future self and this person were close though Magnus couldn't quite understand how a Shadowhunter - the voyance rune on the back of this boy's right hand told him that - and a warlock like himself could ever be this friendly.

He was trying to find a way to detach himself from this whole situation when the boy smiled. It reached every corner of his face, lighting up his dark blue eyes and bringing a little color to his ivory skin. It made Magnus pause, all thoughts of leaving gone.

The Shadowhunter surprised the warlock again by slipping his hand into Magnus's and intertwining their fingers. He allowed himself a small smile, perhaps this place wasn't so bad.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading and reviewing, sorry this chapter took a little while to come I wasn't really sure where I was taking the story, I have the whole plot thought out but I haven't mastered the specifics yet, so sorry about that. :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**At long last I've FINALLY updated (one million sorrys) so here we go :)  
**

 **Also sorry if any information about NY is wrong, I googled stuff but I've never been (so sorry about that.)**

 **Also I don't own TMI or TID, just saying. (You've probably figured that out by now)  
**

* * *

After about 7 attempts at finding a decent outfit that covered a respectable amount of skin, and a good forty minutes after entering the store, Tessa and Will emerged, blinking at the daylight after so long suffering the dark glow of the shop. If you were to ask Will, he would never admit that his first instinct was to look for their companion warlock, and he would certainly never confess to the small spark of panic that ignited in his stomach when he realised Magnus was gone.

No, this was fine. They weren't going to stick together anyway, besides he was a _Shadowhunter_ , he didn't need a Downworlder to feel safe, he smiled at Tessa who didn't look that bothered considering, in fact, she'd remained pretty cool throughout the whole experience. Perhaps compared to everything else that had been thrown at her in the last few years this wasn't that strange, or perhaps she was just as good as hiding her emotions as he was.

A few flustered minutes later, Will managed to regain his thoughts and cast about for something to use as a form of orientation. In the end, he threw caution to the wind, he was already lost enough, it couldn't get much worse.

Tess had somehow already managed to wonder off, Will muttered a silent curse and tried not to let himself get too worried. Sure enough, there she was just a few feet away staring at a sign in the window of another store.

"Will... you should see this."

He walked over to her with no reply, squinting slightly to read the words on some strange poster advertising 'the best movie of 2009', Will wasn't sure what a movie was but he did have a sneaking suspicion about the last number. It would definitely explain the abundance of foreign objects that everyone seemed to have and the strange clothes and manner of speaking the people here possessed.

He was saved from answering by two figures running past, the taller one shoving him accidentally, almost causing him to fall. The only thing stopping Will from shouting some sort of abuse at the figure were the breathless words he heard pass between them. 'What kind of demon can freaking teleport?'

He and Tessa exchanged a look, confirming he'd heard correctly. Will supposed it would be likely for there to be Shadowhunters in, Christ, 2009. He would definitely get back to that later.

Right now though his mind was formulating a plan, where there were Shadowhunters there would be information, and maybe a way out of here. Before he knew what he was doing, his stele was in his hand and he was tracing an invisibility rune on his inner arm. He didn't have to worry about Tessa, since the events with the automatons she'd taken it upon herself to learn at least some basic magic, she'd already mastered glamours. He could see right now, judging from the way her figure was blurred slightly at the edges, that she was glamoured from all but Will.

It wasn't long before him and his companion were racing through this futuristic city, (somewhat more awkwardly than he would have liked, their close fitting 'jeans' were hard to adjust to.) He risked a glance at Tessa and saw her trying to hide a smile as she overtook him. He smiled back and sped up, running as fast as he could after those Shadowhunters.

* * *

Isabelle Lightwood was bored. Alec was off somewhere with Magnus, Jace and Clary where off somewhere with each other _._ How come she was the only one of the group who was tragically single? A year ago she would have called Simon or, at least, have been comforted by the knowledge that had she the need to, she could. Now though he was probably learning Latin or taking a class in Demon Killing 101, his shaky memory didn't improve the situation by any means, she knew he was remembering things, much quicker than any of them could have hoped, unfortunately, that was still too slow for Izzy, in an ideal world Magnus or some other warlock would just have poofed his memories back and they would have been happy and in love again. Not that she'd ever say that to Simon, Clary seemed to think that encouragement and enthusiasm was half of the solution.

So here she was, lying alone on her double bed, looking at the empty space beside her and missing Simon more than ever.

The soft ringtone of her phone broke the self-pitying silence after anywhere between 10 minutes and an hour, she really wasn't that sure. Of course her relief of having something to do faded pretty quickly when she saw it was Magnus calling, he _never_ called her, the two occasions he had done so were when he pocket dialled her by accident and one time when they'd been attacked by a hoard of demons and Alec needed an Iratze for an injury warlock magic couldn't heal.

"Magnus?"

"I'm a contact on your phone, you know it's me." He definitely sounded way too calm for anything bad to have happened. Worry changed to mild curiosity as to the nature of this call.

"Fine, what's up?"

"Nothing, just tell Alec to call me, silly Nephilim's probably forgotten he's meeting me today."

Now that was certainly strange. As far as she knew her brother was with Magnus.

"Um, he just left a few minutes ago." Covering for Alec was second nature to her, even if it was to his own boyfriend.

"Huh ok, thanks."

She hung up, definitely curious. At least now she had something to do, it was time to go into full 'little sister' mode and figure out every little-hidden detail of her brother's life. Only because she loved him. Obviously

 **Alec where are you?**

The reply was instant, she knew it was probably because he needed to make sure her text wasn't about any demonic activity in the city but she still felt pretty pleased.

 _With Magnus, you know that._

 _-A_

 **Seriously, Alec, you don't need to sign it off as A, I KNOW it's you.**

 _Is there a point to this?_

 _-A (ha)_

 **Yeah sorry, M just called said you weren't with him.**

 _Well, that's impossible because I am._

 _-A_

This was definitely a job for detective Isabelle Lightwood, the sharpest mind and keenest eye of the Shadow World. She ran through the possibilities in her head. 1. Alec and/or Magnus was lying. 2. Alec was with a fake Magnus. 3. Alec was unknowingly invisible and Magnus couldn't see him. 4. One of the two (or both) had gone insane. 5. She was dreaming and this was all a weird boredom-induced hallucination.

Options 1 and 3 could be ruled out immediately, Alec couldn't lie and Magnus wouldn't, and if Alec were invisible he probably would have realized that Magnus wasn't acknowledging him. Option 5 was unlikely, this whole scenario felt pretty real, she pinched herself to be sure... yep she was definitely living in reality. Option 2 was likely the most dangerous for Alec though option 4 sounded pretty risky for anyone in the warlock's vicinity.

Both Alec and Magnus had sounded sane enough when she'd spoken to them though she hadn't technically heard Alec she knew he couldn't be out of it enough not to put that annoying 'A' at the end of his messages.

That left option 2, Alec was with a fake Magnus, which meant he was almost definitely in danger. She tried to suppress the surge of panic at this revelation, knowing full well Alec could defend himself perfectly against most things. Whatever it was that was standing in as Magnus had made is the first mistake by thinking it could fool a Lightwood. Isabelle would get to the bottom of this.

* * *

 **Thank you guys so much for reviewing you're all like the coolest people ever (yes, even YOU) Especially thanks to laxsophie78, percygeorgefourherondale, Allie, for being no.1 reviewers, you each win your very own car (it will be delivered to you within the week.) Also thanks to everyone else who has reviewed/favourited/followed, you all win bikes bc I can't afford to buy cars for you all.  
**

 **p.s tyken wooow**


	5. Chapter 5

The three hardest things to successfully accomplish, Clary decided, were surviving Isabelle's unique take on 'risotto', living to tell the tale of a trip to hell and back, and running through the crowded streets of New York without accidentally killing someone in the process. Of course, had she been Jace the latter would be easy (even he had to admit the first two were pretty hard), as he seemed not to care who he barged into and took no precautions to keep his seraph blade away from making contact with the mundanes. Only the angel knew how he'd hadn't managed to relieve someone of a limb as of yet.

The afternoon had started off pretty normal, Jace had run into a Hydra demon on his way to meet her and had decided that he'd much rather bring Clary with him to kill it that be late for their date and risk facing her wrath later.

It had started off as a fairly normal find-and-kill situation, Clary almost found it boring (though she would never say that aloud, she didn't want to jinx the two years of smooth sailing they'd had.) The whole thing had gone south after they'd killed the hydra, expecting it to disintegrate like the bodies normally did, it was definitely a surprise when the body stayed solid and two more hydras appeared behind it, and lurched forward. The surprises didn't stop after the appearance of the demons, in fact, it just got weirder. More and more demons started appearing, all hydras, and each one bigger and greener than the last. It finally got to the point where Jace and Clary were each fighting two demons each, simultaneously trying to not to bump into the five bodies of the one's they'd killed. Of course, this was still under control, protocol demanded no more than 2 demons for one Shadowhunter, but they were very close to calling the Lightwood siblings.

Though that was made unnecessary by the sudden disappearance of the remaining hydras.

Jace, still in fighting mode brought his blade down on thin air and for the first time in her life, Clary thought she saw him stumble. Not that he'd ever admit it. In a way, it could have been his stumble that saved her life, as if he hadn't done that, he might not have looked to Clary to see if she noticed, and consequentially he might not have seen one of the hydra demons at the opening of the alleyway they were in, appear behind her. He shouted but she'd already seen from the expression on his face that she was in trouble. Without looking, she turned around, swinging her seraph blade around with her, slicing into the chest and stomach of an approaching demon. It disappeared again, no sound or warning, appearing a few meters back, away from the reach of her weapon. Several of the other hydras returned, one by one until Jace and Clary were back to back and surrounded.

"Jace, this isn't normal right?"

"Definitely not. Be careful."

Fighting was made somewhat harder what with the demons disappearing every few seconds and reappearing in a different place, be it behind her or ten feet away. In fact, they'd only managed to kill one, when all the hydra demons disappeared and did not return. The two stood there cautiously for a few minutes, ready to spring into action if one returned. They heard a scream, the screech of tires, and the sound of a siren. Probably just a coincidence but...

"We should check that out." Jace voiced her thoughts, clearly put out by the fact that he didn't really know what was happening.

She nodded shakily, leading the way out onto the main street. They started jogging but switched to a flat out sprint when they heard another scream from the same direction.

After a while of running, never seeming to get closer to the demons, Clary couldn't hold in her questions anymore.

"What kind of demon can freaking teleport?" She'd said it at the same time that Jace ran into the black haired boy she'd seen earlier, now out of his old-fashioned clothing, so he took his time to reply.

"I really have no idea." Was his response when it finally came, though a part of Clary wished he hadn't said anything, now her fears were confirmed. If Jace didn't know something about a demon then something really was wrong.

After passing the third crashed car and still seeing no sign of a hydra demon, Clary was close to calling quits. The words were almost off her lips when she heard a shout from her companion. She wasn't sure whether or not to be relieved that she could now stop running or worried that she would now have to face the hardest demons to kill, like, ever.

She was dragged, by Jace, past a three-car collision (presumably caused by the demons and the source of the rather worrying screams.) down an alley very similar to the one they had first encountered the demons in though this time much wider and lighter. As alleys went this was a rather nice one, not that Clary had had much experience with alleys, it was just an observation.

She saw the demons near the back wall, tearing apart what seemed to be a dead animal.

They approached them slowly at first, but upon realizing the hydras were staying put, the two sped up into a jog and it wasn't long before they were engaged in fighting again. Unfortunately, although not very intelligent, the hydra demons were clever enough to think of attacking all at once, which of course was quite inconvenient when the numbers were unfairly stacked against them.

She glanced over at Jace in the one second she had to spare after killing a particularly ugly demon, only to see one come up behind Jace and lunge.

It was like the world was frozen in slow motion and she could see the hydra jump, all mouths and teeth and claws, towards the person she loved most in the world.

She didn't say anything, she didn't _do_ anything. She couldn't, her feet were glued to the ground and it was like her mouth was sewn shut. The demon was centimeters from Jace, who was focused on the two demons in front of him in the way only he could, blocking everything but the fight out. It was like he was in a different world and nothing else existed, the only other person he seemed to let in was Alec and it was in those moments that their bond was the strongest.

Hours, minutes, seconds before the demon came into contact with Jace, it fell to the floor. A blade through its back. Dead.

Clary stared in stunned shock at the black haired boy who stood over the body of the hydra, watching as he casually removed the already rotting blade from the demon's body and threw it to the side. She might have seen a flicker of surprise in his eyes when the body didn't disintegrate, but, in a way so familiar to her, he hid his emotions well.

"Well, you're welcome." He had a thick English accent and an annoyingly charming smile. By now Jace was well aware of what had happened, having dispatched the two remaining hydra demons, he was now glaring at the boy. He seemed a little older than Clary and Jace, maybe Alec's age.

At that moment, a girl appeared at the entrance to the alley. "For the record, that was _not_ a fair test of speed, you do realise that every time you knock someone over I am obliged to stop and apologise seeing as you seem to have no idea as to the meaning of the word 'sorry'?" The girl had brown hair and stone gray eyes, she was the same person Clary had seen earlier.

"Tessa? It _is_ you, how have you been? How's Jem?"

Tessa stiffened and sent chance a look at the other boy. "He is... very well thank you."

Her accent was stronger than the last time Clary had seen her and she spoke in a more formal manner than Clary remembered, but she didn't dwell on it, the situation was odd enough as it was.

"Who's your friend? I'm Clary Fairchild, this is Jace Herondale." She directed the first question at Tessa but turned to the other boy as she introduced herself and Jace.

Tessa faltered, taking a while to respond. "This is Will... Highsmith. A friend of mine from London."

Jace eyed Tessa suspiciously but didn't say anything. Clary didn't need to hear him speak to know he thought something was up. Whatever it was she was sure he would figure it out, he hated mysteries and loved being the one to solve them. And though it was probably nothing at all, Clary couldn't shake the feeling that something about them was _off_ like they didn't belong here. Mentally scolding herself, Clary gave Will her most genuine smile. "It's nice to meet you Will."

 **By the way, in case you didn't know, Highsmith is the surname of the woman Robert Lightwood had an affair with before Max. Just saying. (It's relevant)**

 **LAST THING. Thank you so much for 8 reviews on the last chapter all 8 of you are awesome (can you match that number for this chapter?) I legit love every person reading this far (the simple fact that you read my notes is proof enough that you're pretty cool.)**


	6. Chapter 6

"Wait, no we should purchase... _ice-cream_ ."

Alec Lightwood was no Sherlock Holmes, but he knew something was up. Magnus's low-key attire and inability to understand half the things Alec said were definite clues but the fact that Magnus actually wanted to 'purchase' ice-cream was the final straw. Magnus hated the food.

The texts Isabelle had sent were probably the only reason he was looking out for anything strange, he couldn't help but think the situation over in his head. How would Magnus have called Izzy if he was with him?

From there it was a quick jump to this moment and the realisation that this wasn't his Magnus.

What reason would anyone have to summon up a fake boyfriend? Unless they wanted to distract him while they went after the real Magnus. Mentally cursing and seriously worried, Alec had no idea what to do.

"You don't like ice-cream." He'd replied after a moment of silence.

"Yes, well tastes change don't they?

Tired of going along with whatever this was, and angry that he was being played for a fool, Alec dropped the calm facade. (Admittedly it wasn't a very good one as he'd been getting worried looks from strangers for the last 5 minutes, probably wondering why he looked like he was ready for murder.)

Quick as lightening, he pushed the surprised intruder against a graffitied wall, his arm against his throat, leaving his right hand free to quickly apply a glamor rune, already conscious of attention he was getting.

"Who are you, where is Magnus Bane?" He tried to keep his voice neutral, not to make his fear evident.

To say the man looked surprised was an understatement, but his expression quickly went from shocked to mildly embarrassed. It was strange seeing someone who looked and walked and smiled in the same way as his boyfriend, but who seemed to be someone else entirely.

"Such a Shadowhunter." the man breathed, and, was he smiling? "In answer to your question, I am Magnus Bane, surely you noticed."

"If you are Magnus Bane then when was he born?"

The man's eyes widened. "I- I told you that?"

"That's not an answer." Expecting to have caught the fake Magnus out, Alec was disappointed when he was able to sufficiently come up with his year of birth. However, the man was now looking at him in a different way, as if he almost couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Listen Shadowhunter, I'll throw caution to the wind. If I trust you enough to tell you my birth date, which can I mention /no one/ knows, then you must mean a lot." Then, under his breath. "Holy hell I can't believe I'm doing this."

Alec narrowed his eyes.

"I may or may not have accidentally portalled here from a slightly different time."

Stunned silence. A small smile. It wasn't long before he was suppressing laughter.

"You idiot."

* * *

"So Will, how long have you known Tessa?"

The redheaded one seemed to never stop talking, the other Herondale didn't seem to mind it.

"A few years," He answered truthfully. He couldn't help but smile at the memory of their first meeting.

They were walking through the streets of New York (some subtle interrogation had told them where they were) towards the institute. Waiting for a moment to leave the two Shadowhunters and go and look for Magnus (surely he had his energy back now?), Will bided his time by taking note of every tiny thing the future held that he would probably never have lived to see. Massive coloured photos plastered on walls or signs. Black tinted glasses that Will thought would only hinder sight and not improve it. Mechanical carriages that Henry would have loved.

He realised with a jolt that Henry would now be dead. As would everyone he knew. Charlotte. Gideon. Sophie. Gabriel.

Cecily. His little sister was probably a part of the Silent City.

"So what brings you to New York?" This was, again, directed at him. This time, he welcomed the distraction.

"It's quite a long story actually."

The golden haired boy cut in. "That's a shame because we're almost here."

Will cursed himself for not having taken off with Tessa by now. He had no idea how to act around these future Shadowhunters and he was convinced he would give himself away in a second.

Their group turned a corner and Will was confronted with the sight of a towering church that must have been the institute. He was pleased to see that some traditions had not died out.

Why it was even necessary for them to be going to the institute Will wasn't sure, the girl had just insisted that they come back with her, so before they knew it that was what was happening.

Will hung back for a moment, letting the other Herondale go first. He was still not over the idea that the boy in front of him, who was the _same age as him_ , was very likely his ancestor. Of course, the idea of him and Tessa having children had been spoken of, but only in passing when talking about the seemingly distant future. (Travelling in time 130 years really gave him a new perspective on time.) He had never thought to meet his great-great-whatever relative before he'd even met his first child. Will watched the boy, his golden hair and golden eyes were not typically Herondale, though what was he to know about that kind of thing this far on in his line? The confident way in which he walked told Will that they were similar enough, in fact, the boy's whole posture and stance were very close to Will's own.

It strange, he thought, the parts of him that had been inherited.

No doubt there were aspects of his personality that had been inherited from other Herondales or whichever bloodline his mother descended from.

Will couldn't help himself becoming silently fond of this boy, he was, of course, a Herondale.


End file.
